A Soldier, An Athlete, A Farmer

Many scholars agree that 2 Timothy is Paul’s last letter in the Bible. He was in prison in Rome, awaiting death. He wrote this letter to Timothy, his spiritual son, to encourage him to continue the fight of faith like him, even as he approached the end of his own life.

Suppose that you were at your deathbed and looking back at your life. What kind of testimony do you want to leave to your children or family members? I am sure that most of us will say with some kinds of regretful words: “I wish I had spent more time in serving God.” Or “I wish I had used my time, opportunities, and money for God’s purpose.”

But, in the Bible, you will find several great people of God whose end did not end in regrets but in cries of victory and mission completed. One of them is Apostle Paul. “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:6-8, ESV) We read the Bible to imitate those giants of faith so that somehow we may follow their examples. In this letter, Apostle Paul also encourages his young coworker Timothy to continue in faithfulness, and points to his own life as an example for Timothy to follow. I believe that, if we are careful to follow Paul’s examples, I am sure that we will sing the songs of victory like him at our deathbed. So I want to briefly examine his examples revealed in the book of 2 Timothy, especially in Chapter 2.

Look at verse 1. “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” (NIV) or “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” (ESV) Even in my short life, I’ve met various kinds of Christians. Some were strong-willed, some were full of passion and zeal for the Lord, or some were born with super-intellect or multi-talents. Once I thought that if I had been born with such talents or intellects or wills, I would have served God better. But what I found later is that the ones whom God used are not ones of intellect or talents or wills, but those who were faithful to the Lord, no matter what. If you want to be a triumphant Christian like Paul, be faithful to the Lord at any situations. But being faithful is extremely difficult because there are temptations, frustrations, setbacks, difficulties, unpopularity, or persecutions in Christian life.

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. (2 Timothy 3:1-5, ESV)

Or

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4, ESV)

Even this mighty apostle had time for frustration and despair.

You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. (2 Timothy 1:15, ESV)

Or

Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. (2 Timothy 4:14-17, ESV)

In the chapter 1, the word “ashamed” appears three times (8, 12, 16). Don’t be ashamed of the gospel! Why does Paul emphasize this to Timothy? The gospel has always offended natural men and has an element of being ridiculed. ‘No matter who you may be, you are a wicked sinner before God.’ ‘You are a hell-deserving sinner.’ ‘Without Christ, you don’t have any hope of salvation.’ ‘Nothing is important than eternal life. Even the whole world cannot be compared with the kingdom of God.’ Who’ll like this kind of message? The world always ridicules the gospel, and people by nature do not like being ridiculed. They do not like to be associated with anything that is subject to ridicule. To be a Christian, in a sense, means that you chose to be a ridiculed and despised person like a minority person, a disabled person, nobody, or a person of discrimination. Since I am living as a minority in this country, I know the icky feeling. You may think if you attend a big church like Vineyard Columbus, you will not be ashamed of being a Christian. But whether you attend a small church like YTCF or a mega church like Vineyard, it does not matter. To be a Christian means that you will be ridiculed in this world.

Therefore, without being strong or being strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, your determination, decision, or will be easily crumbled when an opportune situation of temptation, difficulty, or stress arises upon your life. We need God’s grace. We need God’s strength. Without being reminded of the gospel truth that once you were a hell-deserving sinner but by God’s grace you became a child of God, and without being reminded of the hope that hat you will receive the glorious kingdom of God at the end of your life, you will lose your inner strength to carry on your Christian life. Every Christian needs God’s strengthening process every day. When a Christian is strengthened by God’s grace, then even a frail Christian can be strong. That’s the beauty of being a Christian. Even a baby Christian can withstand the pressure of the whole world. Therefore, Apostle Paul reminds Timothy of God’s gift. “For God does not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and self-control.” So, any of you can be strong in God’s grace, and you can be a faithful Christian in this world because of God’s grace. He can make you strong!

Next, I want to emphasize is that the three metaphors Paul is using to encourage Timothy to consider what it means to be a Christian worker. It is interesting to see that Paul uses the metaphor of a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer to describe about a Christian. When most people think about Christians, they conjure up the image of a docile, mild, meek, gentle, or peace-loving lamb. But the Bible frequently compares the Christians with the masculine image of a soldier or an athlete. I believe that the purpose of doing this is to teach Christians that there is a battle or a race or a hard working in Christian life.  

Look at verse 3-4.

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. (3-4, NIV)

Not many people want to be soldiers because being a soldier demands duty, sacrifice, and suffering. But Christians have no choice. By God’s special grace, they are called (or enlisted) into his mighty army. Being a good soldier of Christ Jesus means this awareness of being called as Christ’s soldier. If you read the Bible, you will find that every person whom God used was the one who had this sense of being called. Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jesus, or Paul. The person whom you should envy or even fear is the one who has this sense of being called by God. The reason is that the one who has the sense of being called can concentrate his or her life for one single purpose. Jesus numerously mentioned the reason why he came to this world. He had a tremendous sense of purpose of life. Paul said in Acts 20:24 that he considers his life worth nothing to him, if only he may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given him. Here Paul encourages Timothy to have a single purpose of life without distraction; that is to please his commander Jesus Christ. Here not being entangled with civilian pursuits (or affairs) should not be misinterpreted as a call away from “secular.” The Bible does not allow Christians to separate life into distinct realms, “spiritual” and “secular.” All of life is to be lived spiritually, in obedience to the Spirit according to the Word of God. Paul does not see secular activities as being out of bounds. However, he is warning Timothy not to allow anything (even perhaps things that could be considered “spiritual”) to distract him from his task. If you have this single-mindedness, I surely believe that you will achieve something far greater than any achievements in this world.

Look at verse 5:

An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. (5, ESV)

In this country, athletes are adored. They go through strict training to gain fame and material success. But Christians are, in a sense, real athletes because they run the race of life. Life is not a short sprint. It’s a long race like marathon. People look for a short gain: momentary pleasure and easy life here. But at the end, they lose. But Christians look for ultimate victory even though they may not have short gain momentarily. The Bible encourages us that those who put the word of God into practice are really blessed in the ultimate sense. Don’t be fooled by short gains. Follow God’s rules. You will surely enjoy the lasting victory.

Finally, look at verse 6.

 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. (6, NIV)

Christian life can be compared to farming. A farmer will plant his crop, and then wait for months to enjoy the harvest. When a farmer plants seeds, he may not see immediate results. Sometimes his hard working seems to be useless labor. Then when the harvest season comes, there will be joyous shouting for reaping crops. “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.” (James 5:7, ESV) The labor you put for the Lord seems to be in vain because you may not see immediate results. But you will surely see the glorious fruits if not in this world, then the next world. Your hard working labor will surely be appreciated. You will be extremely exulted by the fact that your labor was not in vain at all and your life struggle brought a glorious result in the business of the kingdom of God.

So Paul concludes his three metaphors with this saying. Look at verse 7. “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” (7, ESV) Timothy was his dear spiritual son. Then why did he encourage him to follow his footstep instead of saying that he should avoid all the troubles of life and choose the life of ease and no difficulty? It is because Paul was looking for eternal glory at the end of his race. Let us fight the good fight of faith, run the race, and finish the race. Your end will be glorious more than what you imagine.